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A friend who works in recruitment recently recounted a story to me. A young graduate negotiating a role asked, "can I bring my own tablet and smartphone, rather than use the phone and computer on offer from the employer?", my friend quipped that five years ago, he'd never receive that sort of request but now it happens all the time.

Allowing employees to bring their own smartphones, tablets and other devices to the office is attractive to many organisations that want to offer more flexible working conditions and improve productivity. But before proceeding, decision-makers should undertake a rigorous cost-benefit analysis to make sure a 'bring your own device' policy is right for their organisation.

By understanding and accounting for the upshot of such a policy, organisations are far better placed to understand whether it meets their requirements.

Bring your own device (or BYOD) policies are continuing to gain strength in corporate Australia, with our recent Future of Business report indicating that the percentage of organisations that are opening their networks to personal devices is rising consistently. This is due to the explosion in more user-friendly, stylish smartphones and tablets, the proliferation of applications delivered over faster networks, and employees increasingly influencing technology usage at work.

Studies show that Australians love their smartphones, with Australia ranking as the second highest nation next to Singapore for smartphone usage according to Google and IPSOS Research.

Our research shows that almost half of Australian businesses now allow BYOD laptops and notebooks to access company networks. The figures are even higher for smartphones and tablets. Fifty-six percent of organisations allowed BYOD smartphones and forty-three percent allowed tablets. These figures represent significant increases over the past twelve months.

However, when considering whether to implement a BYOD policy, an organisation should ensure the timing is right and that the costs and risks are acceptable. So what steps should the organisation take to ensure it makes the right decision?

Employees also need to know what happens if devices are lost or stolen. If it's the employee's own device, who is responsible for ensuring the worker remains productive? Who pays the bill for bringing another device online?

Device types: Some organisations may allow certain types of smartphones, tablets or other devices, but others may not meet benchmark technical or other criteria.

Cost management: A BYOD policy may increase an organisation's costs by requiring the IT team to support a wider range of devices than they would under a corporate devices only policy. In addition, software licensing costs may increase as more devices are used to access company systems.

Occupational health and safety concerns: A BYOD policy may extend companies' responsibilities around occupational health and safety into their employees' personal lives, increasing liabilities and creating new compliance concerns.

There are a range of policy and technical options available to organisations to overcome these issues. For example, to protect corporate information and systems, they can implement systems that lock or wipe mobile devices remotely, adopt more rigorous rules around password complexity and enforce policies governing the use of applications.

They may also use tools such as automation engines and mobile device management software to help employees connect to corporate networks with their own devices. Creating a self-service portal is one way of keeping costs down and giving employees all the information they need in one central location.

In addition, organisations should adopt processes that clearly define who are responsible for wiping or recovering corporate information from the personal devices of departing employees.

Many organisations require employees to acknowledge and comply with BYOD policies. As well as security and compliance, these policies should cover occupational health and safety issues such as limits on how long a worker can use a mobile device without taking a break.

Finally, to avoid frustration and confusion among employees, organisations should establish clear guidelines around what types of devices are eligible for BYOD policies and any other restrictions that may apply. For example, to keep licensing costs down, the IT department may need to limit the number of devices able to access certain systems.

Before implementing a BYOD policy, organisations should consider or conduct small trials and pilots to identify any issues that need to be rectified before a widespread rollout. These should be completed over a few weeks to enable a comprehensive review and enable employees and managers to provide feedback.

Once these trials and pilots are complete, it really pays to launch a BYOD policy with a big bang. An exciting launch can be a great way to get staff to engage with the new policy and to tap into Australians' inherent love of technology.

Phil Offer is Vice President, Mobility and Convergence, Optus Business

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